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Category Archives: Endangered Birds

Hummingbirds are the smallest birds in the world and one of the most desired to be seen species. They were given the name ‘hummingbirds’ because they have wings that flap at extraordinary frequencies, and as a result produce a humming sound. What is amazing about these birds is that they can fly left, right, up, down, upside down and even backward. These birds have a special bill that is used to get nectar from tubular and long flowers. There are thousands of humming species around the globe according to scientists. However, some of them now face extinction. This list contains six unique species of hummingbirds.

Rare White Hummingbird

Most hummingbirds are known to have different colored feathers. However, what makes this bird unique is that it is entirely white. There is not much information about this particular bird except for it has a developmental condition and leucism that makes it lose its coloring. Leucistic birds have the inability to deposit melanin into their feathers although they can produce the pigment. Only this bird has black eyes, so it’s different from other albino birds that have red eyes.

Marvellous Spatuletail

The Marvellous Spatuletail hummingbird was declared rare in the year 2000 by the world conservation union. It is unique in that it has four tail feathers only. The tail of the male adult was found to be twice as long as its body. What is more phenomenal is that the tail of this bird ends in a spoon-shaped spatula with a purple gloss. According to some Ornithologists, the males compete for females through whirling their tails around their bodies. This behavior is one the strangest phenomenon in the hummingbird world. More so, the males attack each other often in the air, contorting their tails and bodies into odd shapes at high speed.

The Colourful Puffleg

These hummingbirds are mostly found in South America. Its population is about 250 birds, and they are the top most endangered species listed by BirdLife International. They have colorful pufflegs that are 8cm in length and short, straight black bills. They also have pink feet and white-eyed spots. The adult male has a mostly dark green plumage, blue abdomen, and under tail feathers that are coppery-gold. The females have a white throat, golden spots on the abdomen and tiny white puffy legs.

Juan Fernández Firecrown

This hummingbird is found only on Isla Robinson Crusoe in Chile and they show a high degree of sexual dimorphism. The males are 11.5 cm long and weigh 10.9g, while the females weigh 6.8g and are 10cm in height. The reasons for its endangered status include habitat loss, predation by mammals and competition. This hummingbird’s habitats are gardens, thickets, and forests and they feed on nectar, the abutilon, eucalyptus and insects. Fewer than 200 of these birds still exist today.

Turquoise-Throated Puffleg

The Turquoise-Throated Puffleg resides in Ecuador and is one of the most endangered species, with a population of about 49. Its endangered status is attributed to a destroyed habitat. Its body is mostly covered with green feathers and it has legs with white powder-puff feathers. The males are covered with purplish feathers and are about 11cm long. Both the male and the female have an under tail that is violet blue. Its bill is straight and black in color. The main under and upper parts are golden green in males.

Black-Breasted Puffleg

The Black-Breasted Puffleg is considered endangered with a population of about 180 birds around the globe. This bird is about 8cm long and sexually dimorphic. The males have black upper and underparts. On the other hand, the female has golden-green underparts and bronze green above. Both the males and the females have a black bill that is straight and white puffy legs.

In conclusion, every human being should take the responsibility of ensuring that the ecosystem is maintained for these hummingbirds to survive. Some of them have reduced in number because of settlements invading their habitats. The scientists should draw attention to the world to ensure that these beautiful birds are in existence for generations to come.

Featured

Before humans destroyed animal habitats and polluted ecosystems, the wild was home to thousands of animal species. In the Northern US, thousands of bird species existed.

Scores of them have gone for good, thanks to human destruction of their habitats. Others are on the verge of extinction. The good news is, state governments have invested in mechanisms to ensure no more animals or plants disappear.

Below is a list of 12 birds in Northern US that are facing the danger of extinction:

1. Florida Grasshopper Sparrow

By the year 2008, there were about 2,000 of this bird making it to enter the list of endangered birds. There have been efforts to salvage the Florida Grasshopper Sparrow from extinction, but most of them have been futile, and very soon this sparrow might be wiped off the face of the earth.

However, more measures are being put in place by the state government that might see an improvement on the former ones.

2. Gunnison Sage-Grouse

This bird, the size of a chicken, was discovered only a little more than a decade ago. Today, they are less than 5 000 in number and its population continues to rapidly decrease.

It lives on the ground and is mainly found in the East of Utah and Colorado. The Gunison Sage-grouse is beautiful and makes quite a scene when mating by fanning its feathers and making a loud noise. There have been conservation measures put in place to save this precious bird and they have continued to bear fruits. Hopefully, very soon, this bird will return to the wild of Colorado, and in abundance.

3. California Condor

This bird stuns in size and beauty with a 9 feet wing span. In the recent years, fewer than 20 condors remained in the whole word. This sparked a conservation program that saw sanctuaries built to save them from extinction. Today, their population has increased though not substantially.

Poaching, lead poisoning from hunters’ bullets left in carcasses and, chemical poisoning from DDT are what has led to this bird’s population to dwindle.

Measures to help it survive have included controlling hunting and poaching and environmental policies to curb pollution of natural bird habitats. There is already good news from these policies as the California Condor’s population has continued to soar.

4. Nene

Nene is found on the islands of Maui, Molokaʻi, Hawai’i and Kaua’i, in Hawaii. With only 30 bird living in 167, it was declared to be among the group of endangered birds.

Encroachment of its habitat by humans is what resulted in plummeting of the number of nenes alive. Conservation measures have nearly succeeded to increase its population ten fold. However, the need still remains largely endangered.

5. Kirtland’s Warbler

Kirtland’s Warbler is mainly found in the Northern peninsular of Michigan. It lives in trees, and when trees were cut down for timber, it had no habitat and its population saw a drastic drop.

Conservation of pine forests and planting of new ones by conservationists have seen the number of Warblers start to steadily go up. Because of this, it might soon be struck off the list of endangered birds.

6. Florida Scrub Jay

With less than 6 000 scrubs left, this bird was declared to be among those in danger of extinction. Most of the deaths of this bird have been caused by human behavior. People feeding them by road side would cause fatalities from the food itself and from collisions with cars.

Educating people on the dangers of this behavior has helped to prevent more drop in the numbers of the Florida Scrub Jay.

7. Whooping Crane

This bird is a beauty to watch with its characteristic long neck. The beauty is though about to disappear courtesy of illegal hunters.

Hunting and human encroachment have driven this North American crane to the brink of extension. By 1941, only less than twenty of the beautiful Whooping Crane were in existence. Conservation measures taken include sanctuaries and prohibition of illegal hunting. The cranes population has steadily increased though not to a point where the bird can be said to be free from danger.

8. Ashy Storm Petrel

What a cool name for a bird! The Ashy Storm Petrel sea bird lives off the Californian coast. It mainly becomes active at night and feeds on fish, or squid from the ocean. Predators have forced this bird to become endangered.

Also, global warming has led to conditions that don’t favor its existence in the coastal areas. The only rescue measure is creating wild like sanctuaries for this pretty bird, and which has already happened. The population has increased in a promising way though it is still far from being delisted from the endangered birds list.

9. Golden-cheeked Warbler

The Warbler is a native of central Texas. Its color enthrals bird watchers. And it’s sad that it is on the verge of disappearing off the earth.

Human encroachment has robbed the bird of it nesting places. Also cutting down of trees often has led to the birds lacking somewhere to nest in. Although the number of warblers remains higher compared to other endangered birds, they continue to show signs of decreasing numbers.

10. Marbled Murrelet

The Marbled Murrelet depends on high redwoods for habitat. It prefers tall and branched tree. Loggers have felled these very trees construction in large numbers in the past. This has left the bird with no place to dwell in. Finding a murrelets bird has, therefore, become very difficult nowadays.

11. California Least Tern

In 1974, there were only lightly over a thousand terns living, prompting a declaration that that it among the endangered species. Recent conservation measures have helped to rectify the situation. There are numerous sanctuaries all over Northern America to care for the California Least Tern birds.

The problem that persisted though not severely, as a result of predator attacks.

12. Nihoa Millerbird

This tiny bird is only found on a tiny island of Hawaii. Not much is known about it as researchers have feared interfering with it lest they accelerate its extinction. What is known is that there are not many of them out there.

To protect the Nihoa Millerbird from human destruction, people have been moved away from the island. This has freed it from possible harm of the birds habitat. This measure will definitely see the bird population multiply to levels that can make it not to be endangered anymore.